FSSAI notice to Ramdev’s noodles

ROORKEE: Patanjali Ayurved Ltd (PAL), the FMCG venture promoted by yoga guru Baba Ramdev, has been served a show cause notice on Tuesday by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) over the sale of its newly-launched atta noodles in the country without approval.
Though neither Ramdev nor his deputy Acharya Balkrishana, managing director of PAL, have confirmed receiving the notice, Akash Yog Health Products, a local noodle manufacturer which produces atta noodles for Pantanjali, and a high-level source at PAL have confirmed the news. PAL’s offices are situated at Padartha village on Haridwar-Laksar road here.
According to reports, FSSAI chairman and acting CEO Ashish Bahuguna had issued the show cause notices to PAL and Akash Yog on Nov 19, asking both companies to explain, within 15 days, about manufacturing and selling the atta noodles without due approval from FSSAI. Ramdev had launched his noodles brand as a rival product to Nestle’s Maggi instant noodles on November 16 in Delhi. But the product drew controversy instantly when FSSAI officials said it was not standardized or approved by the food safety agency.
However, on the packaging of PAL, an FSSAI licence number is mentioned, and on November 18 Ramdev had denied any illegality as far as PAL was concerned. Since then, confusion has prevailed over the status of a notice from FSSAI as both Pal and Akash Yog stated they were unaware of it.
Akash Yog, which has been producing atta noodles for PAL at SIDCUL industrial area in Haridwar, has now confirmed that they as well as PAL have received the notice from FSSAI. However, the company’s officials stated they have all the necessary permissions for producing the noodles, and have committed no wrong. “We have been producing around 22 tonnes of noodles every day in our plant. And since we are a British Retail Consortium (BRC)-certified company, all the work is done in accordance with international food standards. In fact, the notice is about Patanjali’s marketing of the product, and not our manufacture of it. Therefore, the notice does not affect us,” said Mukund Madhav, general manager (operations), Akash Yog, talking to TOI.
Meanwhile, PAL sources confirmed receipt of the notice but declined to comment further. CP Nagpal, vice-president and head of food operations of PAL had told TOI earlier on Monday that FSSAI’s procedures for food manufacture was ambiguous and needed clarification. “They have said that our product does not fall in the category of ‘pasta foods’, under which we have registered it. However, they don’t have any category for ‘instant noodles’, so what are we to do?” Nagpal had asked.